No, the hometown Ottawa RedBlacks weren’t in Sunday’s Grey Cup at TD Place, but that didn’t put a damper on the festivities … at all.

As the Calgary Stampeders faced off against the Toronto Argos in the 105th Grey Cup in front of more than 36,000, the crowds were gathered around the Glebe and Lansdowne Park hours before the kickoff as people from the capital — and the thousands that travelled here — showed they know how to party.

If anybody thought the elimination of the RedBlacks in the East final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders two weeks ago would mean that people in Ottawa wouldn’t be excited for the big game, they couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Three consecutive years we’ve had a prominent role in the Grey Cup,” Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group president Jeff Hunt said Sunday. “In (2015) we go there and we lose. Last year, we got there and we win. Now we’re hosting.

“In some ways, the hosting of the Grey Cup is more fun than having won it. You get to host the party. For the fans of Ottawa, who have suffered so much over the years, it’s almost like the football gods are paying back Ottawa for all those years of just terrible experiences.

“To top of our return (to the league in 2014) run with hosting (the game) is great.”

The last time the former Renegades hosted the Cup in 2004, the party was good, but it wasn’t nearly what it was this time around. People flocked to Lansdowne Park over the course of the last four days to take part in the parties being hosted by the various cities or maybe grab a bite or beer at the several restaurants.

“There’s no other place in Canada where you can have all the team parties and all the activities within earshot of the stadium,” Hunt said. “With the stadium as a backdrop, it really makes it special vs. just being in a bar in some downtown neighborhood like Toronto.

“It’s special that we’ve got this little village that has become Grey Cup central.”

Sometimes cities don’t embrace the Grey Cup when their team isn’t in it but that hasn’t been the case in Ottawa. There were thousands of people at Lansdowne throughout the weekend and the Byward Market was hopping.

“After we got beat out I thought it was going to put a damper on the mood and I was pretty bummed out personally,” Hunt said. “As we got closer to the actual Grey Cup hosting, people were getting excited and you would certainly not detect any sense of being bummed out by fans I’ve met the last few nights.

“I was with fans (Saturday) night, they were celebrating, they were happy and you’d think we had won the Grey Cup. The sting of having lost has been quickly forgotten. People are just having fun.”

THE COIN TOSS

A little less than two hours to kickoff the snow started falling at TD Place. It really looked picture perfect from the warm press box. This won’t happen if commissioner Randy Ambrosie gets his wish to move up the season … Stopped by Thornton Avenue, a few blocks from the stadium, for a tailgate party at Neil Greene‘s place Sunday. Thirteen years ago when the Cup was held in Ottawa, I was walking by Greene’s house when he invited me to the party he was having out front and got an e-mail Thursday asking me to come back. He’s got an old fire truck he’s had outfitted for tailgate parties and next time its put to use will be for the outdoor game on Dec. 16 between the Senators and Montreal Canadiens at Lansdowne.

IN THE HUDDLE

According to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson the week-long Grey Cup festival will pour more than $100 million into the local economy. That includes the money spent on tickets, at the stadium, restaurants, hotels and anywhere else across the city. Watson indicated on twitter he was hoping for the Argos. “I feel sorry that Toronto doesn’t win that much,” Watson said … Met Jim Simonelli, who flew in from Smithers, B.C., for the weekend, to see his beloved Argos in the Cup. It’s the first time he’s been to the game and he was wearing a warmup jacket that belonged to Joe Theismann in 1971. Simonelli’s father Mario got it from former Toronto quarterback Condredge Holloway in the 1980s.

EXTRA POINTS

A fly past by two CF 18’s just before the opening kickoff had to be cancelled because of the weather. The plan was for the two Royal Canadian Air Force planes to fly by at 6:34 p.m. and 6:38 p.m. but the snowflakes didn’t allow it … Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on hand and spent some time with TSN’s Brian Williams before the game. They showed a clip of Trudeau as a child making a prediction on CBC before the 1981 Grey Cup in Montreal and he picked the Rough Riders over the Edmonton Eskimos by one point. Ottawa lost 26-23 on a last second field goal. “I picked Ottawa because we lived here,” Trudeau said after seeing the clip with Williams. Trudeau praised the work done at Lansdowne and indicated he’s looking forward to the outdoor game in three weeks … Toronto defensive lineman Cleyon Laing did a pretty good dive in the snow after the club’s first sack.

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